Devices for raising and lowering a car door window

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a device for moving a panel in translation with respect to a structure, particularly a car door window, constituted of at least two rollers engaged in at least one slideway, these rollers being integral in translation with the panel, whilst the slideway or slideways are coupled to the structure by a transmission of movement, wherein said rollers are disposed on intermediate supports, each of these rollers on an intermediate support peculiar thereto, said supports being separate from one another, and each of said supports being secured to the panel in a zone which extends only partially over the panel.

United States Patent 1 Cadiou 1 Dec. 11, 1973 [54] DEVICES FOR RAISING AND LOWERING A 3,516,199 6/1970 Priestman 49/227 A O WINDOW l\-/lan:on BII re [75] Inventor: Jean G. Cadiou, Saint-Cloud,

France Primary Examiner-Charles J. Myhre [73] Assignee: Societe Anonyme Automobiles Assistant Examiner-Wesley S. Ratliff, Jr.

Citroen, Paris, France Att0mey-Lewis H. Eslinger [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1972 211 App1.-No.: 219,089 [57] ABSTRACT This invention relates to a device for moving a panel 30 Foreign Application P i i Data in translation with respect to a structure, particularly a Jan 26 1971 France 7102551 car door window, constituted of at least two rollers engaged in at least one slideway, these rollers being inte- [52] CL 74/99 49/227 gral in translation with the panel, whilst the slideway [51] Int CL 21/44 or slideways are coupled to the structure by a trans- [58] Field 49/146 48 mission of movement, wherein said rollers are dis- "4' 7 1 421 posed on intermediate supports, each of these rollers on an intermediate support peculiar thereto, said sup- [56] References Cited ports being separate from one another, and each of said supports being secured to the pane] in a zone 3 415 016 STAIES PATENTS which extends only partially over the panel.

1 Lysta 49 227 3,541,732 11/1970 Hanson 49/227 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENIEUHEB 11 I975 3777579 sum 10? 2 The present invention relates to a device for moving a panel, particularly the window of a vehicle door, in translation.

In the automobile field, devices are used for manoeuvring the door windows of vehicles which are constituted of movable raising arms provided with rollers intended for transmitting the movement to a slideway which is integral, directly or indirectly, with the window to be manoeuvred.

This arrangement results in a continual variation, in the course of manoeuvre, of the position of the point of application of the forces of the rollers to the slide, said .position being in relation with the location of the roller or rollers in the or each slide. This displacement of the point of application of the forces causes, in certain extreme positions, considerable overhangs which are unfavourable per se for the long-life of the fastenings to the window, and may even involve breaking of the window, particular in the case of localised fastenings or brackets stuck directly to the windows,

The invention proposes to obviate this disadvantage by reducing the stresses due to the manoeuvring efforts as well as to the vibrations which are developed in the joints, particularly in the case of localised sticking. Of course, it is applied to the device for moving the door windows, and also to the device for moving any movable panel with respect to a structure. 6

The invention therefore has for its object a device for moving a panel in translation with respect to a structure, constituted by at least two rollers engaged in at least one slideway, these rollers being integral in translation with the panel, whilst the slideway or slideways are connected to the structure by a transmission of movement.

Said rollers are disposed on intermediate supports, each of these rollers on an intermediate support peculiar thereto, saidsupports being separate from one another, and each of said supports being connected to the panel in a zone which extends only partially over the panel.

Furthermore, each roller may comprise a shaft with which it is possibly integral, said roller being mounted to rotate on the panel, or being integral with said panel.

The invention will be more readily understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a first variant embodiment of the device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a detail of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 and 4 are detailed views of second and third embodiments of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the device shown in FIG. 1 is a mechanism for raising and lowering the door window of an automobile vehicle. It is constituted in known manner of a control mechanism 1 with deformable parallelogram 2 and geared sector 3 connected to the control lever 4.

This mechanism is fixed to the door 5 of a vehicle. The deformable parallelogram 2 is intended to permit the upward or downward movement of the window, with which the door 5 is provided.

The window 6 is connected to the parallelogram 2 by means of rollers 8 mounted on intermediate supports 9, themselves fixed to the windows 6 by zones of adhesion 9a and by slideways 7 integral with the arm of the paral- 2 lelogram articulated, by shafts 2a and 2b, to two adjacent apices of said parallelogram.

In FIG. 2, the window 6 is shown separately, after having been turned round, in order to show more clearly the rollers 8 mounted on the supports 9.

A variant fixation of the rollers 8 is shown in FIG. 3, in which the roller 8 is mounted to rotate with respect to the window. In this embodiment, the roller 8 is in fact mounted to rotate on its intermediate support 9 by means of a shaft 12 rendered integral with said support 9 with the interposition of a disc 13 between the end of the shaft 12 and the support 9. Moreover, it is ascertained that, in the embodiment shown, the support 9 has a shoulder 9b which shifts by a distance D the zone 9a with respect to the one where the roller 8 is fixed. The shoulder 9b has moreover been disposed at a certain distance d from the edge 60 of the window 6.

Finally, in the variant of FIG. 4%, the roller 8 is connected to the intermediate support 9 which is secured to the window at 9a, in any convenient manner. The roller 8 is in fact integral with the support 9, over a zone on which it is cast.

The advantages of the above-mentioned arrangements are as follows:

Firstly, it is clearly understood that the manoeuvring stresses developed in the control mechanism 1 and transmitted to the window 6 are in fact always transmitted to the level of the rollers 8. These latter are disposed at a fixed location withrespect to the window 6 and enable the continual modifications of the position of the point of application of the stresses to the window, whichwas the case beforehand, to be avoided.

Furthermore, it will be noted that the zones 9a for sticking the supports 9 were chosen at locations correctly disposed on the window 6 along whose edge they extend only partially. Moreover, they are recessed with respect to the lower edge 6a (FIG. 3 for example). All this is suitable, possibly in connection with the shoulder 9b of the supports 9, for delimiting the zone of transmission of the stresses and for consequently avoiding the existence of any connection at right angles to the edges 6a. These latter, being the seat of tensions inside the window 6, constitute fragile zones which are obviously to be preserved from supplementary stresses.

Finally, the rollers may or may not be mounted to rotate, this latter possibility enabling embodiments to be chosen, such as the one of FIG. 4, which are simple and not expensive, and in which, in addition, the clearances between parts, which often produce noise and even disassembling later, have been eliminated.

I claim: i

1. A device for moving a panel in translation with respect to a fixed structure, said device comprising, at least two intermediate support members operatively connected to said panel in spaced relation to each other, said support members being secured to said panel at points located within the periphery of the panel, the points of connection of said intermediate support members to said panel occupying only a portion of the panel area; at least two independent roller means operatively connected respectively to said support members, a frame having at least two slideways formed therein respectively slidably receiving said roller means, and means for moving said frame in a generally vertical direction, whereby said roller means move in said slideways during vertical movement of said frame and transmit said vertical movement to said panel.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller means are rotatably mounted on said intermediate support members.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller means are rigidly secured to said intermediate support members.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said panel has a lower edge portion and said support members are connected to said panel at locations above said lower edge.

5. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said frame comprises a pair of parallelly extending link members operatively pivotally connected at one end to said frame in spaced locations with respect to each other, said links being pivotally connected at their opposite ends to a rigid operating member, thereby to define a parallelogram linkage with said frame, and means for varying the configuration of said parallelogram linkage.

6. The device as defined in claim 4 wherein said intermediate support members are bent away from said panel adjacent their points of connection to the panel.

7. The device as defined in claim 6 wherein said panel has a lower edge portion and said intermediate support members are secured to said panel adjacent said lower edge, but interiorly thereof, and extend beyond said lower edge, said roller means being secured to said support members at positions below and beneath said lower edge of said panel wherein said roller means are received in the slideways formed in said frame.

8. The device as defined in claim 7 wherein said means for moving said frame includes a parallelogram linkage structure operatively connected to the frame and means for varying the configuration of said parallelogram linkage, thereby to vary the vertical position of said frame and said panel. 

1. A device for moving a panel in translation with respect to a fixed structure, said device comprising, at least two intermediate support members operatively connected to said panel in spaced relation to each other, said support members being secured to said panel at points located within the periphery of the panel, the points of connection of said intermediate support members to said panel occupying only a portion of the panel area; at least two independent roller means operatively connected respectively to said support members, a frame having at least two slideways formed therein respectively slidably receiving said roller means, and means for moving said frame in a generally vertical direction, whereby said roller means move in said slideways during vertical movement of said frame and transmit said verticAl movement to said panel.
 2. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller means are rotatably mounted on said intermediate support members.
 3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller means are rigidly secured to said intermediate support members.
 4. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said panel has a lower edge portion and said support members are connected to said panel at locations above said lower edge.
 5. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said frame comprises a pair of parallelly extending link members operatively pivotally connected at one end to said frame in spaced locations with respect to each other, said links being pivotally connected at their opposite ends to a rigid operating member, thereby to define a parallelogram linkage with said frame, and means for varying the configuration of said parallelogram linkage.
 6. The device as defined in claim 4 wherein said intermediate support members are bent away from said panel adjacent their points of connection to the panel.
 7. The device as defined in claim 6 wherein said panel has a lower edge portion and said intermediate support members are secured to said panel adjacent said lower edge, but interiorly thereof, and extend beyond said lower edge, said roller means being secured to said support members at positions below and beneath said lower edge of said panel wherein said roller means are received in the slideways formed in said frame.
 8. The device as defined in claim 7 wherein said means for moving said frame includes a parallelogram linkage structure operatively connected to the frame and means for varying the configuration of said parallelogram linkage, thereby to vary the vertical position of said frame and said panel. 